Thai Green Curry with Chicken

One of the benefits of having lived in the Sacramento area was the array of restaurants, bakeries and cafes available. And if that was not enough, the Bay Area was just a couple of hours away. One such restaurant is Lemongrass owned by Mai Pham. She is the author of a couple of Thai and Vietnamese cookbooks, one of which I have and love cooking from (The Best of Vietnamese and Thai Cooking). Here's an article about Mai Pham from the California Heartland website. California Heartland is show that is aired on the Sacramento PBS channel KVIE

Here's an easy Thai recipe from The Best of Vietnamese and Thai Cooking.

Ingredients: 
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 tablespoon green curry paste or to taste
1 stalk lemon grass cut into 1-inch pieces and bruised with the back of a knife
1 cup homemade unsalted or canned low-sodium chicken stock
2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 kaffir lime leaves, cut into thin slivers
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick strips
2 cups bamboo shoots, blanched in boiling water for 5 minutes and drained
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 red ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges
Fresh cilantro sprigs for garnish

My family likes water chestnuts so I substituted those for the bamboo shoots.  

1. Heat 1/3 cup of the coconut milk in a nonstick stir-fry pan over moderate heat until bubbly and hot. 
2. Add the curry paste and lemon grass, and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. 
3. Add the chicken stock, fish sauce, sugar turmeric, and lime leaves. Bring to a boil. 
4. Add the chicken and cook until it turns white, 3 to 5 minutes. 
5. Add the remaining coconut milk, bamboo shoots, peas, and tomatoes. 
6. Continue to simmer until vegetables are thoroughly hot, about 3 minutes. Do not allow coconut milk to boil vigorously, as it will separate. 
7. Remove from heat and add the basil. Garnish with cilantro. Serve immediately with steamed jasmine rice. 

The salad shown was made with a mango/apricot/ lime coleslaw recipe from my friend Esther. I did not use the purple cabbage and I used frozen mango chunks.

Ingredients for coleslaw:
1 small green cabbage, shredded
1/2 purple cabbage, shredded
juice of 2 limes
1 lemon
seasoned vinegar to taste, such as sushi, rice or balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
2/3 jar of apricot preserves
2 fresh mangoes cut into small pieces.

1. Shred cabbage. Sprinkle with salt and massage out the water. Let it sit a while, then rinse out extra salt in colander. Drain.
2. In a large bowl, mix the juice of 2 limes, 1 lemon, vinegar, salt, pepper, apricot preserves and mango. 
3. Toss with cabbage. Chill and serve.
4. Enjoy!